Should you pull Argus?

You should pull Argus if:

• You want a versatile debuffer that can massively reduce the DMG Reduction and Crit DEF of an enemy.
• You want some with easy access to an Extra Incantation, which counts as both a FUA and a ranked cast.
• You want someone who excels in optimizing your damage against a single enemy.
• You want someone to slot into an Upgrade team with units like Marcus and Mercuria.
• You want cowboy mommy (valid).

Argus’ main appeal lies in her [Pinpointed] debuff, which is a powerful single-target damage bonus with an easy full-dispel attached to it. She is almost exclusively used for single-target fights, given the nature of her kit, but when she’s placed in the right context she excels at it.

Argus is a 6-star Arcanist of the Plant Afflatus. She excels on massively reducing the defensive stats of a single enemy, with some Follow-Up and upgrading on the side.

The main appeal of her kit is [Pinpointed], which is a stacking effect that ramps up a considerable DMG Taken Reduction and Crit DEF debuff and can only be inflicted on one enemy at a time. Its duration can be refreshed by recasting "Penetrating Eye" or hitting the affected enemy with "No Mark Unstruck", and is the primary reason for her use in content like Raids.

The second important part of her kit is "Grave Digger". When she or allies cast Incantations, depending on the total rank of all Incantations cast that round, Argus casts a rank 1, 2 or 3 "Grave Digger" right after. At rank 2, it grants Argus additional Moxie and at rank 3 it will guarantee the attack critically hits. This forms the bread and butter of Argus' synergy with units like Mercuria, who thrives off of rank 2/3 Incantations, and Follow-Up oriented units.

The rest of her kit is tailored to building on her niche as an offensive Support. Her Insight 1 grants her team +15/20/25% DMG Dealt for 2 rounds when Argus casts a rank 1/2/3 Incantation, which links well into "Grave Digger"s mechanics. Her "Shotgun Shower" Incantation grants her easy access to [Incantation Empowerment I/II], which further helps with stacking [Pinpointed].

Gameplay

Wow.

There's a lot of nice things here, though it is a bit hyper specialized. For one, she is extremely easy to use. Cast "Penetrating Eye" on your target and from that point on everything in your kit works towards stacking that and keeping it stacked; there is almost no way to mess it up beyond maybe accidentally switching [Pinpointed] targets. The massive DMG Reduction and Crit DEF debuff is easy to set up, has great numbers and infinite uptime (assuming you play the rest of her team well).

There's one problem though: her damage. While we initially put her under the Sub Carry category, her personal output is so abysmal that we moved her to the Support category. She quite literally gets matched in damage dealt by Mercuria, who is almost entirely Support-based. Fortunately, her damage output is not the reason for her use, and her great debuff values and ease of use more than make up for it (just don't expect her to carry the team).

Pros & Cons

Completely fine at P0.

If you’re looking to invest into Argus, running her at Portrait 2 or 4 (i.e. the ones that increase the debuff values of [Pinpointed] considerably) is the most value you can get out of her.

Argus generally synergizes with characters that want Follow-Up Attacks or Extra Incantations, those who want a powerful and consistent [Neg Status] or those who need to slot in a dispeller/upgrader.

Notable synergies include:

Marcus

Mercuria

Lucy

Future notable synergies:

Lilya

BarcarolaNew

Here are the best Psychubes you can use on Argus:

Outside the City

Stray Off the Path2.1

Blasphemer of Night

R10 Balanced Build (Recommended)

A few suggestions are listed below.

Standard Teams

Burnbook[GLB]

Damage Dealer

Support

Sustain

TEAM EXPLANATION

• 4th slot options: Mercuria
• Argus’ primary team falls in the Upgrade category, where she can use [Incantation Empowerment] and “Grave Digger” to aid with Mercuria’s [Cosmic Energy] stacking and Moxie generation. By keeping that up relatively passively, she allows Marcus to take more actions and thus deal more damage. In addition, the double-up of [Neg Status]es between Marcus’ [Annotate] and Argus’ [Pinpointed] makes for an easy proc of the “Blasphemer of Night” psychube. Beyond that, Vila and Mercuria help Marcus considerably with managing her Crit Rate while the combination of all 3 supports help optimize her Crit DMG.

Screw You In Particular[CN]

Damage Dealer

Support

Sustain

TEAM EXPLANATION

• 4th slot options: Voyager
• Relatively new and untested, this team serves as a “this boss has no adds and I want it dead”. By using Voyager’s [Orbital Direction] to focus-target “Impromptu Incantation” on a particular enemy, with Barcarola supporting it in terms of overall damage output, it allows the [Inspiration] team to fully exploit the stacking [Pinpointed] debuff’s Crit DEF reduction. This is then paired with Tooth Fairy or Fatutu, both of whom can help with [Inspiration] stacking without much problem.